| John 14:13-14 - Expectancy
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
(John 14:13-14 NIV)
by Chris
We don’t go to God wondering if He will answer our prayers, we go to Him expecting that they will be answered.
Part of fasting and praying continually is to maintain a lifestyle of consistent sacrifice of the flesh. This gives the spiritual man an upper hand on the flesh in unforeseen trials and tribulations.
The bigger part, however, is that we actually get closer to God. We begin to feel the Holy Spirit more active and present in our lives.
It is after this seeking that the will we have for our own life begins to converge with the will He has for our lives. This sets the atmosphere for us to be able to ask anything in His name.
We have the utmost confidence in knowing we will receive it because through fasting and prayer His will for us has been made known to us.
This is important to understand since a lot of people take this scripture as permission to pray for and expect God to do anything they ask.
As we see in the scripture there are 2 criteria that must be satisfied:
- The Father must be glorified from our request
- You must ask in the name of Jesus
This excerpt from a commentary by David Guzik explains it best...
“In My name is not an Aladdin’s lamp of prayer; it signifies both an endorsement (like a check) and a limitation (requests must be in accordance with the character of the name). We are coming to God in Jesus’ name, not in our own.”
As we reach the halfway mark of our fast make sure you are paying extra attention to what God is revealing to you. God will speak in revelation and ideas. It is important that you capture every idea, thought, and revelation on paper during this fast.
It will serve you later as a road map to continue on in faith. You will find strength and encouragement in it as you reflect on God’s revelation.
Lets pray...
“Father thank you for giving us the power of prayer. As we continue to kill our flesh daily we seek to be closer to you God. If anything we get out of this fast let it be a closer relationship with you Father. Make your will for our lives known to us Lord. Cleanse our hearts of any hatred, malice, grudges, or bitterness. We come to you as broken men to be made whole in your presence. Father we ask all these things in your precious name. Amen”
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